


Walk Away

by Weresilver



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mid-Book 1: Cut & Run, Missing Scene, Ty is only really mentioned, minor late-series spoilers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weresilver/pseuds/Weresilver
Summary: Zane had gone five years without caring for anything but his job. That changed in one week, and he had to let it go and go back to a place he'd rather leave behind.
Relationships: Zane Garrett/Ty Grady
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	Walk Away

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I specifically wrote for my Bad Things Happen Bingo card in mind, and I'm sorry. Welcome to the ficlet no one probably ever asked for!  
> I acknowledge the timeline is off (most likely), and I choose to ignore said acknowledgment.

At first, he'd picked up the glass because he had appearances to keep. This was how he'd operated before and changing things now was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

Or that's what Zane had told himself at the time. The first shot had been one too many, but the cool detachment that the alcohol brought him was useful for the work he was doing. Let him fit in and focus. Ignore some of the ghosts haunting him.

Just like the first time he'd come to Miami, he had run away from something, immersing himself in his job to avoid thinking about… All of it, admittedly. Back then, Becky; now, Ty. It had barely been a week, but the man had gotten deep enough under his skin to be missed. Damn it all to hell.

Zane shrugged into the leather jacket, turned, and left De la Vega's mansion, not waiting for whatever the man had set up as celebration. He did what he had to, and that place was the last he wanted to be at that night. He rode fast, taking full advantage of the bike's maneuverability to cut through the evening traffic.

The warehouse was the same one he'd occupied years ago, but it had since been cleared of anything he could even remotely use. The first bottle was a gift, a welcome-back present from Antonio himself. Zane had been momentarily surprised he remembered him. He bought his own rotgut after that.

He climbed up the steps toward the loft, silent mostly out of habit. He took the jacket off and threw it to the back of the couch, running a careful hand over it as he moved to the minuscule kitchen. Empty bottles were starting to pile up on the table, but Zane merely grabbed the one that still had some whiskey in it and moved back to the couch.

He stopped a couple of steps away from it, looking at the jacket with a longing he hadn't felt in years. If ever. He should've done more to keep what they had stumbled upon in New York, to stop Ty from walking away. Although if he had, then what? One of them would end up giving up a job they knew and loved, the one thing either of them had, and that's where resentment would start.

He threw himself onto the couch, resting his head on the back to look at the high ceiling. With a derisive laugh, he took a long swig of the whiskey. What a damn pitiful display. But there was no one to act for, and the burning of the liquor was the only thing keeping his mind from wandering too far.

It would do for his forty-second birthday.

He thought he had it all neatly wrapped up and _buried_ , but everything that happened in New York City, everything between him and Ty and then the attempts against their lives, it all dragged up worries and feelings he hadn't bothered with for five years.

At least he could say he still was capable of caring. And he did care. With another swig of the bottle in his hands, he thought he shouldn't, that it was a little too late. Ty had walked away from him and there wasn't a fucking thing he could do about it.

Zane briefly entertained the thought of what Ty could be sent off to do once his medical leave was up, but the answer seemed obvious to Zane. He would be back in whatever kind of job he used to do just as Zane was thrown back into Inner Miami. Most likely solo, without someone to watch his back. He cursed in harsh Spanish.

Letting the burn down his throat be the focus of his attention for a moment, he took his lighter and a slightly crumpled pack of cigarettes from an inner pocket of the jacket, before his mind turned back to the man he'd left behind, and shook one out. Lighting it up, Zane briefly stared at the cigarette before actually starting to smoke.

Letting himself linger over that week wouldn't do him anything but give him more heartache, and the night was just beginning. He supposed, in the end, he had enough alcohol around to spend the night on the verge of okay.

 _Happy fucking birthday, Garrett_ , he thought sullenly as he finished the bottle and moved to take another.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://weresilver-in-space.tumblr.com)!


End file.
